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Regional medical graduates opt to stay in the bush

Incoming rural doctors' president Dr Ian Kammerman and Dr Tonia Marquardt are passionate about working in regional and remote areas

Charlie McKillop

It's long been argued medical students who are trained in rural settings are more likely to practice there, and research revealed at the peak national event for rural doctors in Cairns has confirmed that.

Greater than two-thirds of James Cook University medical graduates are working in non-metropolitan areas, six to seven years after qualifying as doctors.

Officials expect similar retention rates in the first intake of students at the Cairns-based dental school who will graduate later this year.

The outgoing Rural Doctors Association president, Dr Sheila Cronin, says it's a success story that demonstrates the value of investing in medical education outside of the capital cities.

"I gave an example this morning of Longreach where I worked for 12 years, the obstetrics services there were incredibly fragile, they nearly fell over.

"And now we have a group of young doctors in Longreach, and a similar situation in Roma and Emerald, who are trained in obstetrics and anaesthetics," she said.

"That is the result really of JCU and the Rural Generalists program which basically channelled a group of graduates with training and support and mentorship and supervision to work in rural areas."

JCU's pro vice-chancellor, Ian Wronski, was also at the rural medicine conference in Cairns, where the issue of recruiting and retaining doctors in remote areas has been a key focus.

Professor Wronski says the university has tried to design its courses to encourage the trend.

"We look at where the students are from, so rural students versus non-rural students; do they do extended periods of time in rural practice as a medical student, which doubles the chance that they're non-metropolitan seven years later; and where they do internships.

"Those three levers are decisively important," he said.

Rural doctors, registrars, students, mentors and trainers are attending the conference, which Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) vice president, Dr Ian Kammerman, says is critical to recognising the role of the rural generalist as an area of specialism.

"Rural Generalists can do everything and they have the skills to do everything, from treating patients at the clinic or in the hospital, they can deliver babies, give you an anaesthetic, operate and provide quite high level and complex care," he said.

Dr Tonya Marquardt is based in Cairns at the Royal Flying Doctor Service and works on a fly-in fly-out basis in the remote Cape York Peninsula community of Kowanyama.

"Having a generalist is the answer to most of our rural needs," she said.

"You don't know what is going to come through the door, it could be a kid, it could be a pregnant woman, it could be a palliative care patient or mental health issue.

"I think we have to recognise that we need to have this incredibly broad range of skills."